The Reproduction of Gram-negative Protoplasts and the Influence of Environmental Conditions on This Process

Overview

Journal iScience

Publisher Cell Press

Date 2023 Nov 9

PMID 37942012

Authors

Dheeraj Kanaparthi

Marko Lampe

Jan-Hagen Krohn

Baoli Zhu

Andreas Klingl

Tillmann Lueders

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Bacterial protoplasts are known to reproduce independently of canonical molecular biological processes. Although their reproduction is thought to be influenced by environmental conditions, the growth of protoplasts in their natural habitat has never been empirically studied. Here, we studied the life cycle of protoplasts in their native environment. Contrary to the previous perception that protoplasts reproduce in an erratic manner, cells in our study reproduced in a defined sequence of steps, always leading to viable daughter cells. Their reproduction can be explained by an interplay between intracellular metabolism, the physicochemical properties of cell constituents, and the nature of cations in the growth media. The efficiency of reproduction is determined by the environmental conditions. Under favorable environmental conditions, protoplasts reproduce with nearly similar efficiency to cells that possess a cell wall. In short, here we demonstrate the simplest method of cellular reproduction and the influence of environmental conditions on this process.

Citing Articles

The reproduction process of Gram-positive protocells.

Kanaparthi D, Lampe M, Krohn J, Zhu B, Hildebrand F, Boesen T Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):7075.

PMID: 38528088 PMC: 10963365. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57369-4.

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